'Despicable Me 3' Shows Some Signs of Fatigue

The third installment of the Despicable Me film series sees Gru (Steve Carell) being satisfied with his life as a retired super villain and working as an Anti-Villain League agent with his wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig).  But when they get fired from the AVL for failing to capture former-child-star-turned-super-villain Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), the Minions hope that Gru would return to villainy.  To their disappointment, he refuses, and they decide to leave him.  Meanwhile, Gru learns that he has a twin brother named Dru who wants to meet him.  Visiting him in his home, Gru learns from Dru of their family’s tradition in villainy – putting a strain between the newly reunited brothers.  But when Bratt threatens the world, as well as Gru’s daughters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Nev Scharrel), Gru seeks the help of Dru and the Minions to take him down.

The best thing about this movie is still Gru.  Though the character has already reached his peak in the previous movies, the distinctive energy and personality that Steve Carell puts into him keeps him endearing.  I especially enjoy that, even though he’s already reformed, he still retains some his quirks as a villain.

Moreover, it blew my mind that Steve Carell also served as the voice of Dru.  He did a great job in making the twins very distinguished from each other that I really thought two different persons were voicing them.

In my review of Minions, I strongly stressed out that a Despicable Me 3 would be much preferable because  the Minions can be annoying in spades, but effective in just the right dosage – that is, as sidekicks or background characters revolving around a Gru-centric adventure.  However – I can’t believe I’m saying this – this movie could have benefited with just a little bit more of Minions.  I guess since they now have their own spin-off film series (Minions 2 is set for 2020), the studio decided to not make them as prominent here as the past two movies.  For me, the correct proportion of Minions’ presence to a movie should be comparable to what the first and second Despicable Me movies have had.

As for Despicable Me 3 itself, it’s completely fun.  It’s not as humorous, clever, and well-written as its predecessors though.  Clearly, the quality of these movies is diminishing with each new film.  Compared to the first movie, which I think was brilliant, Despicable Me 3 is underwhelming.  Unfortunately, fatigue for this property is starting to kick in.

At this rate, unless they do something significantly inspired and refreshing, the fourth movie – which is something inevitable, as Despicable Me 3 earned almost a billion dollars from its $80 million budget – is going to be bad.